


Too Small, Just Right

by dagas isa (dagas_isa)



Category: Azumanga Daioh
Genre: F/F, Pets, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-07
Updated: 2011-01-07
Packaged: 2017-10-14 12:36:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 532
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/149296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dagas_isa/pseuds/dagas%20isa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chiyo finds studying at home a distraction.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Too Small, Just Right

**Author's Note:**

  * For [gloss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloss/gifts).



Sometimes Chiyo thinks the apartment she shares with Sakaki is a mite too small for all that goes on within it. On weekend days like this, when Chiyo decides not to ride her bike to the university and instead work at home and Sakaki has the day off from her work at the veterinary clinic and chooses to spend it at home as well, even her companion’s separate, quiet activities can be distracting.

The kotatsu Chiyo writes her article at already takes up a good portion the floor space of the main room. Maya—now a fully grown Iriomote cat regally bearing every bit of his ten kilograms—lays with the lower-half his body under the confines of the table’s futon and the upper half stretched out across the floor, likely dreaming of the next unfortunate sparrow he'll stalk. Occasionally his front paws move and his perpetually extended claws scrape across the laminate. His nose twitches, and despite herself, Chiyo smiles slightly at the merry chase he must be giving.

Then there's Sakaki, who has cleared out a little space between the kotatsu, the bookshelves, and the makeshift area they use for laying out and watching television, working with the newest addition to their household.

"Ran-chan, come." Sakaki squats on the floor her hand outstretched and her fingers begging for the miniature daschund puppy to rub her forehead against it. Ran's head tilts to the side; her tail thumps the floor in a rapid beat, but her rump remains fixed to her original spot. The puppy, with her short copper coat and half-dog-tall, two-dogs-long proportion doesn’t have the same dignity as Tadakichi-san, but Chiyo thinks it’s better that her childhood companion remain unreplaced. After all, they’ve grown up now, and Maya is all the giant dignity they need.

Sakaki lowers her gaze, and waves a treat. "Come." Ran hesitantly lifts a paw and sniffs forward, and elegant long-limbed Sakaki curls herself into something as small and encouraging as possible. Eventually the puppy comes forward to claim her treat and the inevitable hug from Sakaki. Chiyo could probably study sequestered in the bedroom she and Sakaki share or at the library but it's this display that keeps Chiyo in this room crowded as it sometimes feels. When Sakaki's puppy cuddles become less restrained, Chiyo giggles.

Sakaki looks up from Ran in her arms to catch Chiyo staring. The warm expression closes into flustered stoicism. "Was I doing something wrong?" For all that Sakaki loves cute things; she can never see to let it show through for too long. Chiyo loves seeing the moments Sakaki lets herself slip.

"I think you're very cute," Chiyo says. It's true. For all that Sakaki still has a reputation among their friends as the elegant one, in this small space, she's the cute one, and Chiyo—five years younger and not even topping 150 centimeters—feels almost sophisticated to be labeling someone like Sakaki as cute.

A blush fills Sakaki's cheeks. "Thank you." She places Ran on the floor, and continues the training session.

Chiyo smiles and returns to her paper. This place is too small sometimes, but she wouldn't want to be anywhere more spacious right now.


End file.
